BaronEngel
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Trapped in a living nightmare
🕑 Added 2019-02-12 06:38:18 +0000 UTCLast Thing's shivered under the blankets of the infirmary bed in my Equestria dreamscape. uncontrollable spasms wracked in her body as she drifted in and out of lucidity. The inhibitor ring on her horn crackled and smoked as it struggled to contain the bursts of magic that were pulsing through the mare's body.
The mare's room was one of the most heavily warded locations in the palace infirmary. Along with the normal battery magical safeguards in the room there were four tall, ornate staffs that had been placed around the bed. These were amplifiers that were directly linked to Mare-in-Waiting's primary Time Anchor located deep beneath the palace. The gems embedded in the amplifiers flickered steadily as they labored to keep the mare anchored to this moment in time.
However as Evening the Mistress of the Anchor, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and doctor Steady Pulse looked on the mare flickered in and out of view. Then Last Thing vanished completely and the blanket and the bed sheet that had been under went flat. Evening had a stop watch out and levitating. When the mare vanished she started recording the time. Several seconds later the unicorn snapped back into existence and Evening sighed and noted the time in a small journal she had with her. Last Thing frantically looked around the room with wild eyes filled with eyes filled with fear and pain; although she didn't seem to recognize the presence of the other ponies in the room. Then she clenched her eyes closed and she moaned as another round of spasms wracked her.
Finally the four ponies left the room and retired to the doctor's personal office. It made for a crowded space but nopony complained. Steady Pulse closed the door and then sat down at his desk and rubbed his temples with his front hooves; after a couple seconds he addressed the other ponies in the room.
"Ladies, that's her current state. Believe it or not what you saw is an improvement compared to what her condition was a five hours ago. However as you just saw she's effectively trapped in a living nightmare right now. We're trying some new techniques to get her more stable, but those techniques come with their own risks."
"What disturbs me the most is that she's consciously or unconsciously still trying to use her talent to jump forward in time. In spite of the inhibitor rings and the amplifiers." Evening consulted some notes she'd brought with her. " She's slipped 78 times since this onset of seizures. The Secret We have never recorded her performing this many shifts in a 24 hour period. We've taken her personal time anchor offline to protect it from excess wear and damage. She's directly linked to the back up anchor. We took the primary anchor offline as well to avoid damaging it as well. However...."
The elder mare sighed and looked at Celestia. "You can see that she's still breaking her connection to this continuity. She's already destroyed 3 inhibitor rings from sheer resistance she's putting on them. However the doctor and I are loathe to place a stronger ring on her in fear of creating a feedback condition similar to what killed Lucky Card recently." Keep her away from me!
Celestia closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath. "I assume you're trying to keep her sedated as well doctor?"
"We are your highness. However we have to be careful how much we give her. The levels we're administering to her are not meant to be done for extended periods of time. Also she's very resistant to sleep spells"
The stallion looked at his own notes. "Also there's another problem we're confronted with and that is the simple problem of administering medication to her. Intravenous drip is not really feasible. She has suddenly manifested the ability to not only transport herself through time, but also random objects and individuals in her immediate vicinity. This is complicating her treatment immensely. What's worse is that she's inconsistent about which items, if any, she's taking with her when she slips. Sometimes the her bed and drip unit vanishes with her only to return a few seconds later. Or as you just observed a few minutes ago just her body jumps. If that happens the needle falls out of her."
"Even manually administering medication to her has its own dangers. Soon after she arrived one of my nurses, Misty Path, was attempting to give her an injection when Last Thing jumped and like what happened with the mare Prophecy she pulled the nurse along with her into future. When they both returned the Misty Path immediately collapsed in seizures. Fortunately she's beginning to improve but she has exhibited symptoms similar to Last Thing, just not as pronounced. This incident is why we've established a confinement zone around her. We're treating her entirely with levitation and remote means. That's why I insisted nopony approach her when we were in the room with her your Highness."
Luna spoke up. "Has she been able to eat or drink at all since being admitted?"
Steady Pulse removed his pince-nez with his levitation and carefully wiped them clean with a handkerchief then returned his glasses to their place on his muzzle. "We've been unsuccessful in getting to her eat or drink anything, and once again intravenous methods have been unsuccessful. However if we unable to stabilize her this will become another issue we'll be faced with. To be blunt Last Thing is slowly tearing herself apart, and if don't find an answer to this could it prove to be fatal for her."
Evening spoke up. "Has she been able to tell anypony what she saw in the future to put her in this state. She mentioned something about somepony, or someone, opening a gate and that must be stopped, but that's all I've heard. Has she been lucid enough since arriving to expand on that?"
Steady Pulse shook his head. "Unfortunately no. She was screaming rather incoherently when she first arrived, but she's never regained lucidity long enough to convey any meaningful to us."
"Has she been able to sleep since arriving?" The Princess of the Night was staring intently at the doctor.
The doctor shrugged. "We've been able to sedate her to point where she's become unconscious. Whether you'd call that sleep is a matter of debate though."
"Perhaps if you were to sedate her to that state I might be able to enter her dream fabric and get an idea what she experienced to put her in this state of mind."
"Your Highness I would advise strongly against that!" Steady Pulse consulted some more of his notes. "Even in a state of unconsciousness Last Thing has time slipped at least 6 times. What if you were linked with her when that occurred?"
"I've been in the minds of thousands of ponies when they've suddenly woken up and there is no adverse effects. I either enter my own dream fabric or I wake up, and I can initiate the link from a distance so there's no risk of you me pulled forward with her in time."
The doctor began to respond when the Mistress of the Anchor interrupted him. "Your Highness what concerns me about this plan of yours is what if you're linked mentally with her when she shifted. I'm worried that your consciousness, your identity, will be transported forward in time while your physical body is still here in this moment in time. The chances are slim. Most likely all that would happen is that connection would be broken, but what if something else occurred? Have you Princess encountered a situation like this before?"
Prussian Blue alicorn appeared to bristle for a moment at being told how to do her job. Then she closed her eyes and took a breath and let it out slowly. "No. I've never been confronted with situation like this. However I am willing to take risk to help her."
Celestia extended her wing and draped it over her sister's back. "Luna I know you want to help her, but I agree with Evening and Steady Pulse. Let's not rush into this blindly. Let's see if we can stabilize her first. Then by all means please see if you can get delve into her dreams and get us some idea of what she encountered."
"We're not out of ideas yet your Highness." Said the doctor. "Give my staff another 24 hours to try and stabilize Last Thing first."
The Defender of Dreams nodded her head. "Very well. If her condition stabilizes let me know immediately."
To be continued.
Comments
WILLIAM C JOHNSON
Hmmm. Is Dr. Hooves canon in MLP?
Seth Drake
I think she needs a Doctor. Watch out for a handsome dragon stepping out of a Police Box. Poor pony, to be so terrified and jumping for her life... or to try to prevent something from happening. :(
MishaFox
Sort of along the lines of 'I think we'll find Indians over there Mr Custer!'
MishaFox
She WILL do it as some point. But it is still a really bad idea!
